Early voting begins tomorrow, July 7th. I hope that between now and July 15th all who are able to vote will do so. We have had some pretty poor turnouts in past elections. With so many offices to be decided upon, it is important that we all be heard and cast our votes.

Ok, one more thing that is really frustrating is the idea that Greg Dunn controls what the other commissioners day, do and how they vote. Nothing could be further from the truth. If the fact that certain people agree on most issues and think similarly makes them a puppet, then we are all puppets in some regard. And, if you want to think of it that way, couldn't Maxwell, Horgan, and maybe Frady be thought of as puppets of the sheriff? I think so. This whole commission election reminds me of the mayoral election in PTC. Many people were dissatisfied w/Steve Brown and it was "time for a change". Maybe it was, but there are many similarities between the way that election was run and the commission election. In retrospect, I think Harold Logsdon was marketed to all of us by people behind the scenes who had a movtive for wanting him elected. The fact that people were unhappy w/Steve Brown just made it easier for them. They all must be having a good laugh now when they think of people, like me, who fell for it hook, line & sinker! I attended several events for Logsdon as well as the forums. I felt he was presented as a humble, reserved, businessman who wanted to get PTC back on track. Now that he is in office, I perceive him to be somewhat arrogant, set in his ways and not necessarily agreeable to compromise or working with others. He is still new and deserves a chance, but so far I feel like a fool and wish I had been more aware. My point in saying all of this is that I think Maxwell, Horgan and Chapman were all marketed by the sheriff and/or his dept., and nolt very discretly. They have plenty of motive for doing so. The current commission was starting to make things a little uncomfortable and there is no doubt (in the sheriff's mind) that it was time for Dunn & Wells to go. They needed people in office who would stop rocking the boat and let them carry on business "as usual". This they made abundantly clear in the obvious distain for the current commission and support for the others. Why doesn't anyone complain about the waste of county law enforement time & money being spent to produce an ad for Sam chapman? Did all of those uniformed officers happen to be standing around at the office and Sam popped in and asked if they would just take a second to take a picture with him? I doubt it. Besides that, I don't think it is very professional or ethical for a county department to get involved in that fashion. Of course they are entitled to their opinions as private citizens. I don't think the ad would have been as effective if they were all in street clothes. Another thing I found totally disgusting is the photo of Randall Johnson wearing a shirt stating "Dunn is done". Again, he is entitled to his opinion, but when you are a person of his standing the the community it is very inappropriate. My respect for him, as a person, dropped considerably when I saw that. To me, things like this should be considered outrageious to all of us. The last thing I will mention is how revolting I find it to hear things like - Dunn wants to run the county - he wants to be the sheriff, etc. Mr. Dunn does not want to "run" the county. He wants to do the job he was elected to do as a commissioner and part of that is to oversee the operation of the various departments of the county. If he wanted to be sheriff, he would seek election to that position. He obviously is not intimidated by the current sheriff and he certainly knows how to go about seeking election. Commissioner Dunn comes from a background which equipped him well to serve as a commissioner and leader of the community. He is confident in the work that he does and if that comes across as arrogant and power-hungry, so be it.

Well, I didn't want to write any more about the commission election, but I have read so much that I find frustrating. Although it is only a handful of people, I find discussions on this website to be very one-sided and close-minded. I had previously read, on this site, that the purpose was to get people thinking and to express different points. that is just what I want to do - get people to think and to see that there is always more than one side to any story. I see statements made under the guise of "factual information" which are not always "fact". I'm not necessarily saying they are untrue- just that certain things cannot be claimed to be true or untrue at this point in time. Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that as far as Randall Johnson's ability in law enforecement goes, I don't think we could find any better. Because of him and his dept. Fayette County has the reputation of being one place you don't want to commit a crime, and certainly not be caught. I commend the department on doing an exceptional job. I think many confuse the duties of law enforcement & general business regarding the county/sheriff. The sheriff is given a generous budget to do as he sees fit to most effectively run the dept. The commissioners are responsible to the citizens for overseeing the spending. There are procedures in place for acquiring bids, purchasing, etc. Also, the dispute between the sheriff's dept. & the commissioners is about MUCH more than just the drug money. No one says that money is not theirs, and no one wants to tell them how to spend it. One issue related to this is the purchase of a helicopter(s). The agreement to purchase was in place before any of the commissioners were aware of it. Yes, it may have been purchased with drug money, but there is much more to it. The drug money is not income you can count on, on a regular basis. To operate a helicopter you need a place to keep it, you need a pilot to fly it, you need maintenance personnel to maintain it, fuel to keep it running, and insurance. Was the "drug money" going to cover all of this? NO. All of this financial responsibility would fall on the county (us). Therefore, it was not out of line for the commissioners to express concern over this purchase. Why don't we ever hear that side of it?

I agree with "Fireside". I too have had an opportunity to meet Jack Smith and hear what he has to say. He is very nice and very impressive, however, I did notice that on several of the issues he addressed, his suggestions and/or solutions were not possible as a commissioner. Some things are out of their jurisdiction. Two examples I can think of are: "no budget for the roads" - there has been a road plan and budget for at least 8 years as I understand it. The commissioners fought for the SPLOST to pass even though there was much opposition, particuarly from PTC. "would give more money to the Fayette Senior Citizens". While this is possible, one must be very careful as this organization is a private, non-profit and NOT a part of the county government. Many people do not know this. I didn't until recently.

Who ever said Eric Maxwell didn't want to be closely associated with Sam Chapman should read page 11A of Thursday's edition (7/13) of the Fayette Daily News.

I have been trying to look into various issues to determine who to vote for, primarily in the commission election. I'm leaning toward Dunn & Wells and have not found any reason to change at this point. Most of what I see in these blogs is personal - Eric is a nice guy. Greg is a mudslinger-emperor, etc. Well, I'm not voting for someone to be my friend. It doesn't really matter to me whether they are a nice guy or not. Of course I want someone respectable - I'm looking for leaders who will look after and act in our best interest as a county. After looking back over various issues I can find no fault in anything that has been done by the current commissioners. No, I don't agree with everything, but for the most part they have done a great job.

These blogs could actually be helpful and informative if people knew what they were talking about. I hope no one takes